Dragon Quest VIII Coming To iPhone & iPad

When we talk about Japanese games publisher Square-Enix bringing their games to iPhone, we’re usually talking about their popular Final Fantasy series: in the past few years alone, Square-Enix has brought anumberof the games in its world famous CRPG series to the App Store.

The next game Square-Enix is bringing to iPhone isn’t a Final Fantasy game, though. Instead, it’s a title in their other popular RPG series (and a personal favorite game of mine): Dragon Quest VIII.

First released back in 2004 for the Sony PlayStation 2, Dragon Quest VIII features cell-shaded 3D graphics, making it look like a living cartoon. It doesn’t look like this aesthetic was sacrificed for the mobile port at all: Dragon Quest VIII looks just as beautiful running on an iPhone 5s as it ever did on the PS2.

One thing that interests me about the gameplay video posted above is that Square Enix has ported this game so that it can be played with one-hand. That’s a killer idea, allowing you to pick-up and play Dragon Quest VIII while waiting in line. I wish more AAA games would at least make an option for this style of play.

Sadly, right now, there’s only a Japanese release date: Dragon Quest VIII will come to iPhone and iPad on December 12th in Asia. It’s unknown how long we Americans will have to wait, or what price we’ll have to pay when it comes out, although it’s rare indeed that Square-Enix prices one of its games less than $14.99.

About the author:

John Brownlee is a Contributing Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.